The growing proliferation of content providers on large corporate, government, or public computer networks, such as the Internet, has lead to an increase in the amount of false or misleading information present on these networks. This, in turn, has created a need for a workable system for authenticating the electronic documents on these networks, and for preventing authors from improperly presenting that their content has been reviewed and/or verified by the appropriate authority. This problem is explained below in more detail in regard to the Internet.
The Internet is a vast "network of networks" connecting a large number of computer networks and sub-networks to each other through several regional backbone systems. The Internet is a "decentralized" network, which means that each computer on the network can communicate with each other computer on the network and can do so without communicating with a central computer. The Internet is a "packet-switched" network, which means that information is transmitted among each of the computers using "packets" of data which are routed from one system to the next. One portion of the Internet, the World Wide Web ("Web"), is growing at a rapid pace, as more and more businesses go online.
The Web is the most popular segment of the Internet today because it allows users to interact with each other and access content through a graphical user interface, or "GUI." The most commonly used GUI's are Web browsers, which are software applications that allow users to access and view electronic documents in a browser window. Web documents are created using Hypertext Markup Language ("HTML"), which allows authors to added special format tags to plain text documents to control the appearance of the text in the Web browser. HTML tags also allow for the insertion of additional components into the Web document, such as image files, audio files, and "applets." Applets are small pieces of programming code that are run on the user's computer when downloaded. Applets allow for such effects as scrolling text and animation.
Hypertext links may also be added to a Web document to allow users to access another document, file, or application directly from the browser window. When a hypertext link is activated, the Web browser sends a request to the location where the linked document is stored, which is received by the Web server operating at that location. This is accomplished by using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol ("HTTP") which is special instruction protocol used for transferring information over the Web. The location of the document is specified by the document's universal resource locator ("URL"). For example, "http://www.ipwarehouse.com/Cyber.sub.-- Registry.html".
The total number of Web documents and Web sites (locations on the Internet where businesses, organizations, or individuals store their Web documents for viewing over the Internet) is increasing exponentially. This fact, coupled with the relative ease with which these documents can be created and made available, and the relative anonymity available to their authors has led to the increasing problem that a growing portion of Web pages may contain false or misleading information, which can be a danger to the public and harmful to other businesses and organizations.
For example, a Web site or document providing false or misleading medical information as to the effects or proper use of medication could be potentially devastating if relied upon. A Web site which contains misleading legal information could also be harmful to the public. It is possible to cite similar examples from every segment of society.
Accordingly, a system is needed whereby users could authenticate the author of a Web document and determine whether the content of the Web document has been reviewed and/or verified by the appropriate authority. Such a system must be easily accessible by and readily apparent to users, and must be supported by the laws and regulations applicable to the nature of the content in that Web document.